Visit the pretty places
We went to.
Live the moments in the breeze and sun
That we did.
Savour the tastes,
See again the sights,
Live the highs,
Ride the rides,
Laugh again at the jokes,
Sing the songs,
Recount the dreams,
That we shared.
I am in the stories we created together
The joys we lived
The angst we had
The pain we went through.
All of it.
My being or not is mere incident.
My being is in those moments, forever.
The emissions are going right back up as things unlock.
Consumption is back to being more and more and more mindless
We’re starting to use more fuel and travel more
We’re compensating for time lost like nobody’s business.
Ecommerce and online buying went through the roof!
Global trade in the trivial and ridiculous is inching back up again.
We’ve also added an industry or two, around more fear —
And investments in more are suddenly kosher — no questions asked.
The planet is back under the same level of threat. Maybe more.
Your investments are perfectly safe.
Gather for the storm. Or anyway.
Form cliques, share privilege.
Share the same goals of keeping others out
So somehow, you have more of what’s around
And lesser everyday, but still — whatever’s left.
Or grab and store, just in case.
(Who knows when we might need ten times more?)
The waters rise. The siege prolongs.
The dykes and citadels will not hold forever.
The pretence of certainty fades.
The embrace of the forever, the uncertain, the ever-changing
That’s inevitable.
Wish we’d remembered to embrace it first,
And build along with, not against,
Not keep outside our walls.
Anger, gloom, hope, fear
Glimpse horror right here
From far away, yet close at hand
Ever more, ever near
Death, diseases, incessant fires
The spectacle of funeral, funereal pyres
Cries, pleas you try respond to
Win some, lose more - the spirit tires.
